There are 100 days until the Rugby World Cup kicks off at Twickenham, "100 days for ER2015 and Ticketmaster, its partner, to package up and distribute 2.3 million tickets," according to Alex Lowe of the LONDON TIMES. Stephen Brown, head of the Rugby World Cup Organizing Committee, said, "That is a big job in itself." Ticket sales passed the 2-million barrier last month, "with about half of
them" going to what is termed "the traditional rugby family." The rest,
according to the data collected by ER2015, have been purchased by "casual or
new supporters." There will be youngsters and families "attending matches for
the first time, in keeping" with the Rugby Football Union's desire to use the tournament to
"spread the rugby gospel." Brown: "There is potentially a significant new audience. Around 40 percent of the volunteers are not from a rugby background and it could well be
the same for those who have bought tickets." Brown is confident of reaching that 2.3 million target by Sept. 18, when
England plays Fiji at Twickenham in the opening game of the World Cup. Brown: "The
whole ticketing piece has been a phenomenal success so far." Despite "some grumbles about prices, the demand for England's matches and the
knockout games at Twickenham were phenomenal." There were 650,000
applications for England's pool match against Australia, half a million for
the final (LONDON TIMES, 6/10).
HIGH STAKES: In London, Nik Simon reported England players have been "promised a performance bonus" of just more than £100,000 ($155,330) each if they win this year's Rugby World Cup on home soil. The financial incentive is reportedly "more than six times greater" than the £16,000 ($24,900) reward on offer for winning the 2015 RBS 6 Nations. On top of "any performance-related rewards," players are also guaranteed a £15,000 ($23,300) lump sum -- "including match fees, training fees and image rights -- every time they are named in the matchday 23" (DAILY MAIL, 6/9).
